Career Center - Personal Trainer Interviews

The Versatile Life of Personal Trainers – An Interview with Rose Wetzel and Lisa Ballatore

Even as you approach the gym, which is nestled between the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Seattle's body- and health-conscious Fremont neighborhood, there is a feeling of fitness in the structure of the warehouse that has been converted into a three story mecca for modern health. Near the concrete arch entrance—suggesting the power of Roman architecture—there is a glass sculpture of a woman doing acrobatics. Immediately you realize that the ambiance is one of athletic motivation and aesthetics—a great setting for driving fitness. This venue for fitness success is Sound Mind and Body Gym, where personal trainers Rose Wetzel and Lisa Ballatore motivate and help their clients.

Learn how two successful women with unique backgrounds found a career that allows them the personal and professional lifestyle they want. Rose is a young woman who followed an eclectic road to become a personal trainer; Lisa was a stay-at-home mom who wanted to share her love of athletics and had a strong desire to help people lead a healthy lifestyle. If you are thinking about becoming a personal trainer, the interviews with these interesting ladies will help you learn about the different paths and careers available for personal trainers.

Rose Wetzel

Her Personal Trainer Background

Rose grew up in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, in a large, fitness-focused family. She comments, "I grew up outdoors… I was always climbing trees and running around with my six brothers and two sisters… I was kind of a tomboy." Rose cultivated her athletic nature and ran on the track and cross-country teams in high school, where she developed a love of running. She received a scholarship to Georgetown University and learned the intensity of competitive collegiate sports, but still enjoyed and appreciated running.

Rose spent her college years competing and studying, even writing a thesis paper on athletes with anorexia, based partly on her observations of her teammates who had it. She got her Bachelor's degree in Sociology with a health studies concentration and realized that she wasn't sure what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She signed up for the Peace Corps and became a lodge leader at a summer camp. She also worked at a dentist's office as a receptionist, where she realized she wasn't a "desk person." She wanted to see "results and progress" and gravitated toward exploring a career in personal fitness training.

Rose's journey took her to a career she describes her "perfect fit." She says, "I didn't know what I wanted to do, but it seems like my life has been a preparation for this job." For those who are interested in personal training, she recommends an exercise-related major, such as anatomy or physiology to get an understanding of the body and how it works. She mentions that she "loves the excitement and progress she sees with personal training," and relates some of her sessions with clients she has had for awhile to "hanging out with a really good friend."

The Personal Trainer Certifications She Chose

Rose is certified by both APEX Fitness and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). She is also working on her National Strength and Conditioning Association's Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (NSCA-CSCS) certification.

How She Prepares for a Typical Personal Trainer Session

Rose explains that she has to mentally prepare for her training sessions. She thinks that being able to read people is very important. With new clients, it takes more time and thought because you have to take into account their injuries, level of confidence and/or comfort in a training setting. "Building rapport and trust is very important because you have to help to empower the person to work hard." She also mentions that pointing out progress and giving positive feedback is very important, and it is rewarding for both the trainer and the client.

Here are some of the things Rose likes to talk to clients about when establishing realistic goals and giving helpful tips:

• Fat burning, and where the client wants to be in relation to what's healthy
• Improving flexibility
• Improving agility
• Improving coordination
• Improving balance
• Enhancing athletic performance
• Improving strength
• Improving muscle tone

Some of Her Challenges as a Personal Trainer

It can be hard watching clients hit a plateau, says Rose. "People can get discouraged, so I have to be there to encourage them." She always stresses the importance of both diet and an exercise routine during these times and is always happy to give helpful tips.

Some of Her Favorite Rewards as a Personal Trainer

For Rose, her clients' testimonials are the most rewarding part of her job. One client told her that she had "changed his life" when she helped him lose seventy pounds through hard work and determination. Making an impact in people's health and happiness makes her feel good, and she is glad that she chose the profession she did.

How Personal Training Helps to Shape Her Own Life

Rose observes that sometimes people "choose trainers because of the way they look," so resistance training and cardio are important elements of her own fitness goals. She also believes that it is important to have her own personal goals. She is currently sponsored by the Brooks running apparel company has hopes of qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Trials.

Since she specializes in fitness enhancement and injury prevention, she comments that, "various coaches have said that I have the potential to make it to the Olympic Trials, but above all else, I want to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle." Being able to run when she's "80 years old" is important to her. Having a job that allows her to focus on her short term ambitions as well as her long-term health goals is an invaluable benefit of her profession.

Lisa Ballatore

Her Personal Trainer Background

Lisa always participated in a variety of fitness activities growing up, including swimming, running, ballet and gymnastics. She remembered liking "being active" and felt her childhood created a good foundation for an athletic life. "All the times of my life when I was moving, I had been the happiest, so I eventually realized it might be fun to go into personal training." This realization took awhile, since Lisa originally received her bachelor's in English from UCLA, shortly followed by becoming a stay-at-home mom to raise her three children.

After being a full-time mom for 10 years, Lisa decided that she wanted to pursue personal fitness training part time. She had originally contemplated going into psychology, but realized that fitness was a better alternative with her athletic background. "I knew I wanted to be some kind of healer, and saw the gym as a place of healing."

She had remained active, even with a house full of kids, and she integrated a fitness focus into her kids' lives through soccer and other sports. She pursued personal training because she knew it was time to "transition into a part-time career," and felt it was important to help people "create a deeper sense of their own body awareness."

Lisa started her fitness career by teaching classes, including spin, ski and sport conditioning, and beginning women's weights, before eventually deciding to transition into a personal trainer position.

The Personal Trainer Certifications She Chose

Lisa is certified by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and she is currently working on her National Strength and Conditioning Association's Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (NSCA-CSCS) certification. She relates her kinesiology, biomechanics, physiology and anatomy lessons to workouts by commenting that they are "a test of mental endurance."

How She Prepares for a Typical Personal Trainer Session

Lisa prepares for a personal training session by programming, a term used to describe the assessment of each client's unique information taken in their initial consultation session. In her assessment session, she takes weight and body fat index and establishes health goals. From this evaluation, she creates a program catered to her client's exercise desires and needs. She establishes the exercises, puts them in a specific order and writes it down for each person. "You have to be careful when choosing intensity levels," Lisa comments. "You don't want your client to get discouraged, but you also want them to be challenged."

She says that weight training is one of her major areas of focus. "Weight training helps connective tissue get stronger, and a lot of aches and pains from life can be cured." She also stresses the importance of improved agility, flexibility and strength for improved health and fitness for all her clients.

Some of Her Challenges as a Personal Trainer

Lisa observes that not getting immediate gratification can be difficult for clients, which, in turn, can be hard on her. "People have an idea that weight loss will happen immediately." She explains to some of her discouraged clients, "Think of all the time it has taken to get to the weight that you are; it takes time before you see significant weight loss." She also stresses the importance of losing weight and hitting goals in a healthy way.

Lisa also understands that some clients will "take a break" if they feel like they've hit a plateau or are in the "maintaining" stage of training. She knows that this is normal and that these people usually come back to her after they don't see results on their own. She says, "Accountability and expectation are important in the gym. Meeting someone who can provide catered, individualized attention keeps you accountable while training the right way."

Some of Her Favorite Rewards as a Personal Trainer

Lisa loves the positive attitudes and educational environment of the gym. She also enjoys educating people about fitness and helping them achieve their goals. "There are people I've seen go off antidepressants," she remarks. "People begin to feel safe in their own bodies, and that makes my job priceless."

Lisa also feels that she can especially relate with her female clients. "I work with a combination of brides-to-be, pregnant and post pregnant women, and women approaching menopause." She feels like she can be a good coach for these women because she has been through many of the same life events. She adds, "It is a very rewarding job."

How Personal Training Helps to Shape Her Own Life

Lisa works out on her own time and uses herself "as a guinea pig" for learning what training works best. She feels that people's bodies are "like a puzzle," and it can be fun deciphering which pieces work best in training sessions.

Sometimes she thinks she needs to relax more, which has been a common theme in her life, but she also believes that she is in a good place. She enjoys her career and the rewards it has brought to both her family and her personal workouts. And, she comments, "My kids love that I work in a gym."

Related Articles:

• Personal Fitness Training 101
• The Versatile Life of Personal Trainers
• How the Biggest Loser Trainers Got Their Start

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